Associations: Keep Your Assets Safe From Embezzlement

You think it can’t happen to you… until it does. And in the case of one association, it just did.

The dangers of embezzlement, and more, in today’s Lunchtime Links:

Caught redhanded: Has your association ever caught an employee or someone else stealing funds? It’s not unheard-of. On Monday, an employee of a company that processes checks for the Democratic Governors Association was arrested after allegedly stealing $274,000 from the group over a two-year period  (opens in a new tab). As it turns out, Wes Trochlil of Effective Database Management dealt with a similar situation  (opens in a new tab) roughly two decades ago, and he shared his story earlier today—and the lessons he learned. “Every organization, regardless of size, regardless of culture, and regardless of perceived staff loyalty, is susceptible to staff embezzlement,” he writes. How do you secure your association’s assets?

Considering diversity in event planning: Just in time for International Women’s Day, the Event Manager Blog’s Julius Solaris has help for planning diverse panels  (opens in a new tab)at your events, especially at tech conferences, where men are often overrepresented. That’s why the tool Solaris found, a calculator created by developer Aanand Prasad that can break down diversity distribution  (opens in a new tab) by the size of your audience, might prove useful. “The calculator Aanand created is a scientific reply to a weak argument,” Solaris explains. “It is a very valuable answer to those stubborn decision makers who believe only [in] numbers.”

PowerPoint’s iPad competition: Think you might want to try a different approach to your next deck, say something a little less, um, annoying to use? Instead of suffering another death by PowerPoint (opens in a new tab), consider a new tool. Mashable points us in the direction of Haiku Deck  (opens in a new tab), sort of an Instagram-style app for creating presentations on the fly. The app, which allows for quick online sharing and quicker presentations, is built around simplicity, with only a handful of options available for each slide. The app, downloaded 250,000 times, has already built a little bit of an audience—but could it make sense for you? Check out Mashable for more details.  (opens in a new tab)

What’s on your plate today? Tell us about it in the comments.

(Photodisc/Thinkstock)